proportiono

Forms

proportiono, proportionare, proportionavi, proportionatum; first conjugation; also spelled proporciono.^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin proportiō (“proportion”).^[1][2] The TLL rejects a participle proportiōnātus that older dictionaries cited from an interpolated early edition of Firmicus Maternus.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a medieval word.^[2] Among the DMLBS's oldest records is Adelard of Bath's translation of Euclid's Elements, where quantities are proportioned to another quantity.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It was used of number, size and amount, and figuratively of degree, as of penalties proportioned to an offence;^[2] in scholastic philosophy things were said to be proportioned to one another, and in the passive it meant to be in proportion with something.^[1] In Polish documents of the 15th century it also meant to adapt or fit, as of preachers suiting their words to their hearers.^[1]

Timeline

• 1298 – A Canterbury register speaks of penalties proportioned to the offence.^[2]
• 1370 – A York account lists a gilt spoon for measuring out wine or water for the chalice.^[2]
• 1435 – A Polish church council uses it of preachers adapting their words to their audience.^[1]
• 1443 – A philosophical text uses the passive for being in proportion.^[1]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Medieval Latin) To give proportions to, make proportionate; in the passive, to be in proportion.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) To adapt, fit.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
2. ^ a b c d e f g Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften